1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-emitting diode configuration for lighting devices. Particularly, the present invention is directed to a lighting device utilizing the subject light-emitting diode configuration.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of methods and systems for utilizing light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”) for specialty lighting purposes have been developed. Generally, LEDs are used where low power consumption and/or long life are desirable. A drawback for traditional LEDs is their relatively wide beam spread that is most intense only in a small area, which is typically directed in a direction perpendicular to a plane on which the LED is mounted. While progress has been made in creating LEDs with narrower, more focusable beam spreads, they still do not approach the universal beam spread possible with conventional light sources, such as incandescent or fluorescent light sources.
For this reason, various configurations have been proposed to manipulate the light emitted from LEDs. However, these configurations often have some drawback making them undesirable. For example, some configurations utilize many LED elements to work around the wide, diffuse beam spread inherent with LEDs. Thus, increased size, excess heat output, and extra expense all become problems for device applicability, lifespan and marketability, respectively.